Global Golf Post, July 10, 2017

globalgolfpost com JULY 10 2017 THE TAKE LEWINE MAIR E MAIL LEWINE Rose Reflects On Birkdale Feats It is 19 years since the then 17 year old Justin Rose finished in a tie for fourth place behind Mark OMeara in the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale He will forever be remembered for that week of weeks along with alas the 21 missed cuts which marked the start of his professional career Justin Rose and Fell was the clever if cruel headline which captured the sequence of events Yet if Birkdale prompted too much media interest in the player too soon he has always been grateful for that snapshot of my potential In the wider sense the week provided a similarly intriguing snapshot of what the game itself could offer The teenage Justin made golf look young engaging and fun as he shook hands with spectators signed the odd autograph and winked at giggling girls from the adjacent Greenbank High School There were moments when you hoped that the girls would be as smitten with the game as they were with the lad himself They may or may not have turned into golfers but you can safely say that not a few of them will be back to follow the Justin of 2017 and to regale their families with tales of long ago Rose has two abiding memories The first of holing out his 45 yard pitch at the last for a birdie a final flourish which could not have detonated more of a roar had he won the Claret Jug It left him with a 69 and the 282 tally he needed to finish alongside Jim Furyk Raymond Russell and Jesper Parnevik on a day when OMeara defeated Brian Watts in a play off and Tiger Woods was third The second memory came shortly after he had signed his card When I walked into the restaurant he recalls I got a standing ovation It was some moment As for Roses mother Annie she couples the holed pitch with her sons feat in finishing second behind Thomas Levet in the previous weeks qualifying at next door Hillside Annie still entertains vivid pictures of the disbelieving look she shared with Margi her daughter and Ken her late husband when they realised Justin would be going on to Birkdale He was just so young for this to be happening It is impossible to talk of that showstopper of a closing pitch at Birkdale without remembering the eagle birdie finish to Roses secondround 66 For the purposes of the 547 yard 17th he left his driver in the bag and knocked a 3 wood so high and so far on the back of the wind that he needed but a 7 iron to the green A holed 10 footer took him to 3 under and the ensuing birdie to 4 under for the round On 138 he was lying alongside Woods and Nick Price and one behind Watts He would be three behind after his third round 75 before reigniting for that closing 69 In spite of his lack of experience at that level Rose tells of something he could not have got more right at Birkdale and which has served him well to this day The way I played over the four rounds was a model for playing freely he says I can honestly say that I stepped into every day and every shot with a free mind There was never a point when I was concerned about the outcome of any of those shots Intriguingly Sir Michael Bonallacks summation of Roses play at the Open debrief of 98 was not too different from the players latest assessment He has this priceless ability to switch off between shots said the then secretary of the R A Anyone who can do that is at a tremendous advantage as against players who have to concentrate flat out all the time If Rose the junior from North Hants Golf Club outside London was too young to win the Open at 17 he is by no means too old to achieve that feat at 36 After all his great friend Sergio García was 37 when the two were involved in a play off at this years Masters from which García emerged with a winning birdie at the first extra hole When Rose arrives back at Birkdale at the weekend the thoughts which run through his mind might well include that day when he was a struggling candidate in a European Challenge Tour event at Hillside and had this urge to revisit the scene of his Birkdale heroics He drove into the carpark only when he drew to a halt he could not bring himself to get out of the car It was not until the 2008 Open at the club by which time he had won four times on the European Tour that the moment felt right Finally I didnt have the awful feeling of not having lived up to expectations I felt Id done enough to show that 98 was not a flash in the pan This admirable champion has furnished plenty in the way of evidence across the ensuing years including of course that 2013 US Open victory and last years Olympic gold l I can honestly say that I stepped into every day and every shot with a free mind There was never a point when I was concerned about the outcome of any of those shots Justin Rose Margi Justin Annie and Ken Rose

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